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what is webct & why would i want to use it? WebCT stands for Web Course Tools. WebCT is a software product which enables online course management on a large scale by an institution, controlling courses, content, and user access to courses. On the course designer side, it provides an integrated development toolkit for quickly building course webs and online courses. Instructors use these communication tools with students. WebCT Campus Edition and WebCT Vista are two products from the same company, WebCT Corporation. These products are intended to serve the same purpose. WebCT v.6 uses the same architecture as WebCT Vista, and these product lines are planned to merge. WebCT Corporation was bought by Blackboard Corporation in 2006, which sells a different course management system called Blackboard. Google WebCT Blackboard merger for current news on products and progress of the corporate integration. ---------------------- WebCT enables an instructor to create a private web site for a class (called a course or course web), in which communication tools and content documents may be made available to students: Tools: Mail, Discussion, Chat, Announcement, Gradebook, Calendar, Assignment, Assessment Documents:
Word, PowerPoint, txt, rtf, gif, jpg, and other media files. Content organization tools: Learning Module, Organizer Page, File Manager The entire process is web-based, and requires that your web browser be configured to work with WebCT. A Cable Modem or faster connection is recommended. Because the tools are optional, a range of purposes may be served by your selection and use of tools. It is possible to build an entire online course, but many classroom instructors simply use whatever WebCTtool help them facilitate classroom management. Use of webct is usually optional at Kent. You may be teaching a course which has a legacy WebCT course. Unless your course coordinator objects, you will be able to modify the copy of the WebCT course that you are given to use for teaching. I don't see how this applies to my needs A problem-based approach to WebCT use guarantees that your time investment now will streamline teaching in the future. For example: no time for advising after class You have courses back-to-back, but students want to linger after class to ask questions. Your office hours are inconvenient to everyone, it seems. You set up a course web with your syllabus and the Mail, Announcements, Calendar, and Discussion tools. Students now communicate with you via the web, all questions are answered, students feel that they have appropriate access to you. You help them through the semester while sitting home in your robe and slippers. students need review and drill You have a certain number of students who have trouble mastering all the information they must absorb in your course. Or, you always have students in your course who struggle with the math they are required to use. You don't have time to provide one-on-one tutoring and review to the degree they require. You set up a course web with ample review material, and a good supply of self-assessment tests, comprised of questions and problems. Motivated students have the tools they need to gear up and practice, and you can easily monitor their progress through the assessments. how to post grades privately You have been posting grades on your office door. Privacy laws now make this illegal. You need a secure way to report grades privately to students. You set up a course web with the Gradebook tool, and create columns to mirror your grading scheme. Grade data is entered directly into WebCT, or from an Excel spreadsheet or other data file, such as output from test scoring systems. Students are happy to see their progress, traffic is reduced in your office hallway. buried in e-mail You teach several classes at a time. Students send a lot of e-mail, and your account is always in danger of locking up because it is full. You have to keep sensitive mail from certain students, but sometimes you don't know what should be kept until it is too late, and you're in the middle of a grade dispute or grievance. You set up a course web with the Mail tool, and instruct students to use WebCT only to communicate with you. WebCT mail is kept separate by class and section, and all of it is stored and archived at the end of the semester. Plus, there's no spam, ever. scheduling slippage You teach several sections of one class. Due to the nature of your project- and skills-based course, the class schedule is highly subject to change, yet you must communicate the changes to students so that they bring the right equipment and supplies to class, meet at the right location, etc. You set up a course web with the Calendar and Announcements tool, and notify students that they are responsible for everything you post. If students check for updates before class, they'll always know what to bring and where to meet you. |